UFC 319: Dricus du Plessis loses middleweight belt to imperious Khamzat Chimaev
17th August 2025
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Dricus du Plessis was dominated by Khamzat Chimaev in their middleweight title fight at UFC 319 in Chicago on Saturday night.
The South African superstar was dethroned in gruelling fashion by Chimaev, who controlled every round of the contest at the United Centre to win by unanimous decision. Du Plessis had no answer to Chimaev's incredible wrestling acumen and was taken down no less than 12 times.
The Pretoria native survived the five rounds but went down 50-44 on the scoreboard, surrendering his belt to Chimaev.
Round 1
As expected, Chimaev shot for the takedown within ten seconds of the clapper and was successful with his very first attempt, setting the tone of the fight. The Chechen controlled du Plessis with ease due to is superior grappling and finished the round with a flurry of rabbit punches that did little damage.
Round 2
Chimaev shot immediately and took du Plessis down. He rode his back against the cage while the champions remained calm and attempted to fight the hands. But again, the round ended with the challenger on top.
Round 3
Another aggressive and successful takedown attempt. Du Plessis was flat on his back. Chimaev landed several elbows, drawing the interest of referee Mark Goddard, but he du Plessis covered up well enough to prevent a stoppage. Chimaev drew first blood with one of the nasty elbows.
Round 4
More of the same from the challenger as he lands another takedown in the opening seconds. shoots and gets the takedown. Du Plessis spent much of the round on all fours against the cage. Goddard stood them up after a period of inaction, but Chimaev took him straight down again.
Round 5
Du Plessis had no defence to Chimaev's takedowns and was once again in deep water. Du Plessis managed to switch positions in a scramble and get on top, but failed his gullotine attempt. After being stood up by Goddard, there was a final blitz where he caught Chimaev with powerful punches on the feet and ended up taking his back on the floor. Chimaev slipped a final choke attempt to survive the round and claim the middleweight title.
